September catch up

I want to apologize for neglecting questions on the SA forum and my blog the past many weeks. I have discovered with how busy I am with work and home I have about enough mental energy at the end of the day for farming on Facebook and not much else. I will eventually catch up on things, some how.

Right now I am working on two main projects. First the Millinery Ribbon discussion for the March Conference. Second, a book on making sewing cases based on originals. The only bits I’ve been dabbling with is setting aside notes on veils for Bevin as I come back across them in my Ribbon notes.

There have been a couple local events that I’ve wanted to stop in at as a spectator. The timing just doesn’t seem to work out for us. Hopefully soon we will be able to check out the local happenings. I know Connie is interested on reenacting and mid-century life in this area for the magazine.

Published in: on September 14, 2009 at 7:30 pm  Leave a Comment  

September Citizen’s Companion

It was so nice to receive this month’s magazine this week. I’ve been so stressed, it was nice to be able to relax with something I can wrap my head around. I’ve decided there is more green on the cover of the magazine then in many places around me. (Sorry South-Westerners, I miss the green of New York.) The cover also made me think of the upcoming Agricultural Society Fair at the Genesee Country Village and Museum. It is about this time of year mom is in the midst of canning a variety of vegetables, pickles and preserves. I don’t know what she is working on for this year given the blight problem with the tomatoes. I’m hoping some basil pesto was done a few weeks back. I love homemade pesto. Mom was the one who entered preserves and food stuffs at the fair over the years. Grandma K. entered quilting and rug hooking projects. I remember her last one she changed at the end just so she could enter it in the fair before she left for the hospital. It was supposed to have a whole additional border with some of the birds from the central motif. My fair entries were more frequent as a kid then as an adult. I won ribbons in the children’s categories for floral arrangements, craft projects and penmanship. If you’ve tried to read my hand writing as an adult you know just how funny that is. The year I can remember we had to write out a portion of the Gettysburg Address.

Back to the magazine.

I want to thank Elizabeth Topping for including pictures from the July event at the Genesee Country Village and Museum. Most people know of the event as “Mumford” rather than by the Museum’s name. I’ve always had trouble making the switch because to me Mumford is the hamlet that several of my family members live in, the old stone church where my brother & sister-in-law and my Grandparents were married is, and where much of my family is laid to rest. This Mumford is much, much older than the Museum which opened the year I was born. The pictures Elizabeth included are lovely. She attended in a year of transition for the event.  This year the museum opened several of the buildings for reenactors to use for scenarios for the event. The plan to do so again next year as well. I am very excited this is the direction the Museum has chosen to go. Since Elizabeth included a nice picture of what I am pretty sure is the kitchen in Livingston-Backus, I have to mention the pottery shown. This pottery is made at the museum in the working pottery. There have been many great artisans over the years. I won’t try to name them because I don’t want to mutilate their names. The pottery is available at the Museum’s Flint Hill Store and  through the Museum’s website www.gcv.org. They have Salt Glaze, Redware and Albany Slip available. I think you will find the prices are very good. For the larger pieces, you may have to visit the store in person. There are many pieces I’ve seen that are not on the site.

That is all for now…..

Published in: on September 10, 2009 at 6:51 pm  Leave a Comment  

16th Annual Ladies and Gentlemen of the 1860s Conference

16th Annual Ladies and Gentlemen of the 1860s Conference

I will be presenting:

Narrow Strands of Silk: Mid-Nineteenth Century Ribbons Used for Millinery

“Period literature abounds with young women excited by the purchase of gifting of a new ribbon. What excited them so much about a narrow strand of silk? What, as Mary Davidson’s Silk says, held the public favor for three centuries? In this presentation we will examine the many various ribbons used in millinery including their weaves, designs, texture, and width along with where and how they were used.

We will begin by looking at the manufacture of ribbons, where they were made both domestically and foreign, and where we imported them from. We will learn about the regional manufacturing centers in Coventry, England and the Canton of Bále, Switzerland and the ribbons they produced. We will also see how the onset of war drastically shifted the levels of importation and production of silk ribbons.

Next we will look at the types of ribbons produced and used in the mid-century. This will include examples of the different size ribbons, the weaves, and designs. When looking at the types of ribbons, we will see a much greater variety of ribbons available in the 19th century then is available today. Exhibition catalogs show ribbons from as simple as plain, fancy, or plain fancy to some we may recognize such as numerous velvets, printed, and embroidered, to some we may not yet recognize such as figured lutestring and cut-edged ribbon.  We will discuss which ribbons were more often used for different pieces of headwear; bonnets, caps, nets, etc.

Lastly, we will also look at techniques for achieving the look of period ribbons through textual descriptions and illustrations as well as some original images including how to make bows following period directions. “

Published in: on September 8, 2009 at 5:35 pm  Comments (2)